discouraged

[Prunella]

I am not getting any better at this. I've been rowing on and off for 2 years. Two months ago I committed to rowing 60 minutes each day. I have lost 12 pounds, 8 to go, and then I'll keep rowing for fitness and the antidepressant effect. Problem is, I see people just starting out on the forums with way better times than mine on their first row. It takes me ten minutes to row 2 km. I feel like I'm working hard and I think my technique is pretty good but if I work harder I peter out before the half hour is up (I row two sets of 30 minutes.) It's the 'Peter out plan". I just don't have the energy. Partly it might be because I've been sick with a never ending cold for 3 weeks and that doesn't help the energy level but still... I haven't paid attention to times until now, as long as I'm 60 minutes on the erg, but now that I'm looking at the monitor I'm discouraged. I cleaned the cage and fan and it was full of rabbit hair (house rabbits shed a lot) and it works better now but I'm still slow. Am I the only one who never improves?

[hjs]

Just rowing is not the best way to become faster and next to that no everybody can be just as fast.
But, the good thing is, you do work out and you do loose weight.

Maybe try a plan, pete plan, or the interactive plan, those are more focussed on pace, but you still can loose weight.

[Bob S.]

I cleaned the cage and fan and it was full of rabbit hair (house rabbits shed a lot) and it works better now but I'm still slow. Am I the only one who never improves?

Dirt in the cage lowers the drag factor for any particular damper setting, but is has no effect on performance. If anything, if the damper is not adjusted to compensate, it feels easier to row because of the lower drag.

Bob S.

[kayakr]

I'd suggest doing intervals like from the Peter plan, 500mx8 w 2min rest, 2000k x 3 or 4 with 4 min rest. Try to work them down seconds or ever 1 second per week.

Do you have a HR monitor? You may be feeling like your working but still far from your limits. When you're doing 500mx8 and 2 minutes rest is not enough to allow you to complete all reps because your HR is not recovering between sets, then you'll have a better idea of what your limits are.

Find other benefits of your training which you appreciate, for instance like you can go on a long bike ride or xc ski on the weekends and feel great.

[Prunella]

Thanks, folks, for the input. I have a heart rate monitor that I enjoy using and it seems I was doing a lot better weeks ago. Now I can barely get into the aerobic range when before I could maintain a higher rate. I wonder sometimes if it's lack of protein. I live in a cabin on a remote island and can only shop every few weeks and I eat all the perishables the first few days due to lack of refrigeration. Then it's pretty much lentils ad nauseum. Today I ordered groceries and I'm curious to see how my next few rows go. Also I've been sick. My workouts used to be better, though I never looked at my times before, but went by heart rate. I'll try more intervals and push myself harder and see how that goes. I do strength training every few days and my lifestyle demands a lot of wood chopping and carrying heavy loads in a backpack while walking and that's all been harder. too. I'll keep at it. Thanks for the encouragement.

[jeremycfr]

Thanks, folks, for the input. I have a heart rate monitor that I enjoy using and it seems I was doing a lot better weeks ago. Now I can barely get into the aerobic range when before I could maintain a higher rate. I wonder sometimes if it's lack of protein. I live in a cabin on a remote island and can only shop every few weeks and I eat all the perishables the first few days due to lack of refrigeration. Then it's pretty much lentils ad nauseum. Today I ordered groceries and I'm curious to see how my next few rows go. Also I've been sick. My workouts used to be better, though I never looked at my times before, but went by heart rate. I'll try more intervals and push myself harder and see how that goes. I do strength training every few days and my lifestyle demands a lot of wood chopping and carrying heavy loads in a backpack while walking and that's all been harder. too. I'll keep at it. Thanks for the encouragement.

Actually it can be a good sign that your target heart rate is harder to achieve. I know in my own workouts it was very easy to reach "the zone" when I started working out, but as the weight came off my heart rate dropped. Just keep at it and I am sure it will workout.

[BluJay]

Hi there

Maybe shouldn't make my first post on these boards a negative one but here goes none the less;

Short story long:

50 y.o. male in better shape than most, 6'1" 201.1 pounds. I have been a fairly consistent runner for the past 10 years or so and have finished a marathon, half marathon and numerous 10ks and 5ks. Not super fast but usually top 40 %. Have slacked off on my running due to a variety of reasons-icy roads, early darkness, dangerous drivers etc-and went out and bought a C2 Model D to take the place of my running. I am strictly doing this for the health benefits/weight loss and not interested in racing or racing records or any of that sort of thing and definitely not into actual boating. So anyway, I think I have my technique down fairly well although I'm sure I slip into bad habits occasionally and do my best to focus.

I started three months ago to the day and have been fanatical about rowing 5 days a week for anywhere between 30-45 minutes. I started off in the beginning at a pace not much slower than what I am at now so the workout has been fairly consistent for the three months. My machine is set at 4 and generally I will do 7000 meters in 30 minutes and 10,500 meters in 45 minutes with a spm average somewhere between 25 and 26. Now I'm sure thats a light workout for experienced people here but I have to say that by the time I am done I am sucking wind bigtime and a sopping wet sweaty mess. It seems to be a much better all around workout then running. I will add that during this time I have also decreased the amount of food that I am eating. Oddly enough, the workout seems to almost decrease my appetite.

So anyway, here is my issue: Being somewhat OCD I decided to not weigh myself( I weighed myself 1st day for a starting point) until two months after starting with this and stretched that out to 3 months which was yesterday. Get on the scale, 201.1 pounds-the exact same weight as when I started! Seriously, I thought my scale was broken! I have to say that I was shocked and am now completely discouraged! For the most part, rowing is not something that I dread doing, its almost hypnotic at times, but there are days where it is a bit more difficult to strap in than others. I know for a fact that running a similar amount during the same time frame would have resulted in weight loss-absolutely no question, based on my past experience. Am I being unreasonable to have expected some results in three months? When I got on the scale I thought to myself that 5 # would be OK and 10 pounds would be great! Instead?! Nada!

So I'm hoping the veterans here might shed some light on this. What gives?!

[Dickie]

This is the end of my 15th season rowing, I am closing in on 21,000,000 meters, I started out as 5'9" 272 pound 42 year old. Now I am still 5'9" 57 years old and weigh 234.

I have completed 3.5 million meters in the last 3 years and my weight has remained steady at 234 give or take a couple of pounds. It is clear to me that my weight has dropped to the level where my intake and the amount of exercise I get has balanced. If I eat a lot more and exercise less of vice versa my weight will change.

I expect that since you have been a 'fairly consistant runner' for a long period of time, you too, have reached you equilibrium and just changing the type of exercise will not change that equilibrium. You say you feel more of a workout and that you are 'sucking wind bigtime and a sopping wet sweaty mess'. This could be that you are used to running, and rowing uses a different set of muscles, it does not mean your total output of energy was any different.

People who start rowing from a sedentary background will see a weight loss. People who switch from one exercise to another will see less of a change if any at all.

Fred Dickie

[jimrothstein]

... It takes me ten minutes to row 2 km. I feel like I'm working hard and I think my technique is pretty good but if I work harder I peter out before the half hour is up (I row two sets of 30 minutes.) ...

Just my 2 cents ... it takes me a long time to warm up and on 'bad days' (low energy or otherwise) I often need to talk myself into continuing, doing what I can - not pushing, not quitting, during the first 10-15 minutes. But if I make it past the long warm up (on these 'bad days') I often surprise myself: form and 'discipline' eventually return, feel motivated, focused etc etc. and I do great and can go the distance (often 50 minutes in total)

[BluJay]

Thanks for the reply, Dickie. I failed to mention also that 7 months ago I was down to 187 pounds(the lowest I have been in probably 20 years or so) as a result of my running but prior to tweaking both calves. I expected the rowing machine to easily get me back to that weight which is where I think I would be happy so was really surprised to see zero result. I rowed 7000 meters today in 30:01 on a setting of 4 and averaged probably 25 spm. I can honestly say that at the end it was all I could do to keep the pace going. I keep the computer showing a projected calories burned for an hour at current pace and when it is at around 950 I am about at my limit. A pretty strenuos workout for me

[Prunella]

Thanks for your replies, everyone. It turns out I had pneumonia and haven't been able to row for a month. I was sick before that as well so maybe my strength was down. Soon I'll start to row again and I hope to get back to having some energy. Maybe I'll get some power in my stroke again. I miss it. Thanks for the input.

[tditmar]

Hi there

Maybe shouldn't make my first post on these boards a negative one but here goes none the less;

Short story long:

50 y.o. male in better shape than most, 6'1" 201.1 pounds. I have been a fairly consistent runner for the past 10 years or so and have finished a marathon, half marathon and numerous 10ks and 5ks. Not super fast but usually top 40 %. Have slacked off on my running due to a variety of reasons-icy roads, early darkness, dangerous drivers etc-and went out and bought a C2 Model D to take the place of my running. I am strictly doing this for the health benefits/weight loss and not interested in racing or racing records or any of that sort of thing and definitely not into actual boating. So anyway, I think I have my technique down fairly well although I'm sure I slip into bad habits occasionally and do my best to focus.

I started three months ago to the day and have been fanatical about rowing 5 days a week for anywhere between 30-45 minutes. I started off in the beginning at a pace not much slower than what I am at now so the workout has been fairly consistent for the three months. My machine is set at 4 and generally I will do 7000 meters in 30 minutes and 10,500 meters in 45 minutes with a spm average somewhere between 25 and 26. Now I'm sure thats a light workout for experienced people here but I have to say that by the time I am done I am sucking wind bigtime and a sopping wet sweaty mess. It seems to be a much better all around workout then running. I will add that during this time I have also decreased the amount of food that I am eating. Oddly enough, the workout seems to almost decrease my appetite.

So anyway, here is my issue: Being somewhat OCD I decided to not weigh myself( I weighed myself 1st day for a starting point) until two months after starting with this and stretched that out to 3 months which was yesterday. Get on the scale, 201.1 pounds-the exact same weight as when I started! Seriously, I thought my scale was broken! I have to say that I was shocked and am now completely discouraged! For the most part, rowing is not something that I dread doing, its almost hypnotic at times, but there are days where it is a bit more difficult to strap in than others. I know for a fact that running a similar amount during the same time frame would have resulted in weight loss-absolutely no question, based on my past experience. Am I being unreasonable to have expected some results in three months? When I got on the scale I thought to myself that 5 # would be OK and 10 pounds would be great! Instead?! Nada!

So I'm hoping the veterans here might shed some light on this. What gives?!

I am by no means an expert, but rowing is a strength endurance sport. In fact I recall reading somewhere that a peak 2k row is 50% aerobic and 50% anaerobic. The motion itself is in many ways very similar to a power clean in weightlifting. If I had to make a guess, I'd bet that though you haven't lost any actual weight, you have lost fat and displaced it with muscle.

I am not suggesting rowing the same as weightlifting, but there is a strength element and rowers have greater mass than runners as athletes.

[hjs]

2k is not 50/50% aerobe / anearobe more 80/20 and yes its from the endurence sports the one that needs power most, but nomatter what, if an exercise takes above roughly 1 min, the aerobic side will become the major energy source.
If we just train and go do interval work or very hard timetrials, the aerobic component is even a lot bigger. Only if we really breath hard and have to simply stop and reach the point we simple can,t go on, our anearobic systems fully worked. For most people that never happens.

Re building muscle, its happens a bit, but if you row not fast the muscle building will be very limited.

[BluJay]

Back on the machine after taking the summer off to run outside(sporadically). Have been consistent five days a week doing around 7200 meters at 25 spm in about 32;00. In addition and during this time I have given up my 3 or 4 IPA's on weeknights so now I just have my beers on Fri and Sat nights which is more painful than strapping in every morning to be honest! I didn't weigh myself at the start but just did this morning and am already down to 199 which I attribute to laying off the beer. I suspect I might have been between 205 and 210 when I started, so that's pretty cool

Feeling good on the machine and although I don't use any set plan for my workouts I've developed a routine of a couple minutes warm-up, build up to a steady moderate pace and then do what I would call a max effort for 3 or 4 minutes and then back off for a few to recuperate and then when I get my wind back, do another max effort and so on until I get to about 32 minutes or 7000 meters whichever comes first. I've convinced myself that this is the best way to get rid of my gut the fastest based on some things I've read. Does anyone have any input? I want to maximize my results in the time that I am able to row. Thanks !